422 American Journal of Dental Science.

Obituary.

DR. JAMES E. GARRETSON.

James Edmund Garretson, A.M., M.D., D.D.S., professor of anatomy and surgery in the Philadelphia Dental College and dean of that institution, died at his

home in Lansdowne, Pa., on the evening of Saturday, October, 26, 1895.

Dr. Garretson was born in Wilmington, Delaware, October 18, 1828, and commenced the study of dentistry with Dr. Thacher, of Wilmington, in 1850. He oegan

practice in the neighborhood of Woodbury, N. J., and later came to Philadelphia, where he entered as a student in

the Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery, the progenitor of the present Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. He received his degree in dentistry on February 29,

1856, and entered upon the practice of his profession in

Philadelphia* Among his classmates was his brother-in

law, Dr. J. Foster Flagg, for many years his colleague in the

faculty of the Philadelphia Dental College. He began the study of medicine at the University of

Pennsylvania, graduating from that institution in 1859. The

same year he was married to Beulah, a daughter of George Craft, of Upper Greenwich, N. J. At the organization of the

Philadelphia Dental College in 1862, Dr. Garretson became a member of the faculty as professor of pathology and thera-

peutics, but before delivering his course of lectures he re-

signed to accept the position made vacant by resignation of the late Professor D. Hayes Agnew in the Philadelphia School of Anatomy, in which school Dr. Garretson had been a de-

monstrator for five years. He continued in charge of the school until 1864, when he gave up that practice and entered the Philadelphia Dental College as professor of anatomy and

surgery, During the war of the rebellion Dr. Garretson for

a time was in active military hospital service. In 1869 he was

appointed oral surgeon to the hospital of the University of

Obituary. 423

Pennsylvania. In 1880 he became dean of the Philadelphia Dental College, which position he faithfully and acceptably filled until his death.

In the special field of his activities Dr. Garretson filled

a unique place. He was the pioneer in a new department of

surgery, and the creator of its technique. He brought to the

practice of his life-work the skill and manual dexterity of the trained dentist, to which was added the broad culture and

intimate knowledge of his subject required by the educated

surgeon. With this educational equipment grafted upon his

rich natural endowment of attractive characteristics, a combi- nation resulted which easily accounts for his phenomenal suc- cess and wide reputation as a surgeon and as a teacher.

Broadly speaking, Dr. Garretson may be said to be a

striking example of the self made man. His love for his work,

his faith in and respect for the possibilities of development in

dentistry, and his ambition to secure for it the status and re-

cognition it deserved, have borne abundant fruit in the example of success which he has left as a heritage to his profession.

He realized the crudity which characterized the method of performance of the earlier operations done upon the head, face and jaws; he saw that the special training and many of the operative methods of the dentist were, with suitable modi- fication, directly applicable to surgery within his selected

territory. Grasping this great principle and putting it to

thorough practical test, he soon found that he had struck the

keynote to success. The whole complexion of his operations, whether viewed as to their technique or as to the character of the results, differed essentially from the work done by any of his predecessors and the majority of his contemporaries. His

work was distinctly conservative in character. He kept in

view the importance of the cosmetic feature of his results, and as a consequence his operations were designed and done with

a distinct purpose to avoid to the utmost extent permanent mutilation.

It was his custom as far as possible in operations upon the jaws to perform them within the mouth in order to avoid

external incisions, and he carried the development of this prin- ciple to the extent that he frequently operated for the removal

424 American Journal of Dental Science.

of the entire superior maxilla through the mouth without ex- ternal incision. His conservatism was further manifested in

respect to the several tissues of the oral cavity, it being a cardinal principle with him never to remove healthy tissue

that might in any degree help to bring about a normal re-

storation of function within the territory of operation. His

operations upon the inferior maxilla always involved this

feature so far as conditions permitted: Hence it was his cus-

tom to leave a thin basilar rim of bone and periosteum for in-

ducing the reformation of a maxillary ridge to be utilized as a base of support for an artificial crown.

His success in operations of this character is in strong contrast with the results shown by the general surgeon who lacks the familiarity with dental methods and requirements

. possessed by Dr. Garretson. The record of his results would be incomplete without a

reference to his use of the dento-surgical engine in his oper- ative procedures. That he should at once appreciate the ap- plicability of the engine to bone operations was the natural

consequence of his dental training. He was among the

earliest, if not the first, to successfully make use of this very important and, in many operations, essential aid. He kept it in constant service, and its efficiency is everywhere reflected

in the superior results attained by him in his operations, as

well as in the performance of certain operations?especially those within the brain-case?that would be impossible for per- formance without it. The practical development of the sur-

gical uses of the engine is inseparably connected with the re cord of his surgical work.

The permanent record of his surgical work is embodied

in his greatest literary work, the "System ol Oral Surgery." This book has passed through six editions, the first appearing in 1869 and the last in 1895.

It is in the last edition of this great work that the cul-

mination of his endeavor to place dental surgery upon a parity with the officially recognized medical specialties is seen.

The former editions exhibit the gradual evolution of a pro-

fessional condition which began in toleration and has since

grown into a just recognition.

Obituary. 425

Dr. Garretson's intellectual qualities were strongly char- acteristic. His pronounced penchant for philosophical and

metaphysical study was one of the determining' features of

his life. This love for philosophical study manifested itself

strongly in his writings, and in his lectures to his students. He possessed wonderful insight into the profounder psychic problems of life, and great facility in their interpretation and

portrays to others. His fluency as a speaker, his intense ap-

preciation of the divinity which doth hedge a man, his kind-

liness and sympathetic quality, often gave to his formal

lectures and addresses an oratorical quality of high grade. Dr. Garretson was a contributor not only to the literature

of his profession, but to general literature as well. The earliest

of his writings, so far as we have been able to trace, are a con- tribution upon "Dental Hygiene," and one upon the "Ether Question," published in the Dental News Letter in 1855. His

writings consisted of a number of separate book publications, as well as of contributions to periodical literature. There

have appeared in the Dental Cosmos upward of one hundred articles from his pen, besides a large nnmber of unsigned communications published as Hints and Queries.

Apart from his '

System of Oral Surgery," he has pub- lished works as follows: "Brushland," "Hours with John Darby," "Thinking and Thinkers," "Odd Hours of a Phy- sician," "Nineteenth Century Sense," and "Man and His World." These were written under the nom de plume of

"John Darby." JJr. Uarretson possessed to a marked degree attributes

of simplicity and guilelessness. He had a childish faith in

the honesty of mankind; years never taught him even the shadow of a distrust or suspicion of his fellowman, which

might have spared him much of the care and anxiety which clouded his last days.

The cause of his death was stated by his physician to be enteritis; many of his friends, however, believe that his death

was hastened, if not induced, by mental anxiety caused by the difficulties resulting in the recent separation between the Phila-

delphia Dental College and the Medico-Chirurgical College. His death was preceded by profound nervous exhaustion, which increased to the end.

426 American Journal of Dental Science.

In accordance with his earnestiy expressed wish, his re-

mains were incinerated at the Germantown Crematory, on

Wednesday, October 30, and the ashes subsequently interred at the Friends' burying ground in Upper Darby?Dr. Garret- son being a member of that faith.

The surviving members of his family are his widow and two daughters,?Dental Cosmos.